The snooker season launched into life with a wonderful International Championship last week. Between now and the end of the season there are very few free weeks and this one isn’t one of them.
That is because the latest European Tour event begins at the professional level on Friday in Bulgaria when the majority of the best players in the world head to Sofia for the Bulgarian Open.
Most of the big names in the game have boarded the plane to Bulgaria but there are three significant absences with Neil Robertson, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ding Junhui. Robertson and Junhui could be taking it easy ahead of next week’s Champion of Champions while O’Sullivan hasn’t played an event this season yet.
Looking ahead to betting on the tournament and we already have a few firms priced up to four places which is handy. As always in these events I’m going to take one in each quarter in the hope of getting a couple of players through to Sunday where the pay outs occur.
Given the matches are all best of seven and come thick and fast I tend to leave the match betting alone and let the outrights get the job done.
In the top quarter I’m going to take a bit of a long shot. With the current order of merit the way it is Rory McLeod is the number one seed this weekend and with no disrespect meant he’s there to be taken on.
Judd Trump is the obvious man to take him on with but Trump has been known to use these events as practice for the bigger ones so I’ll take a chance on Jimmy Robertson here. Robertson made the semi-finals of the recent Asian Tour event so he has shown his pedigree in this format and given that he wouldn’t face Trump until the quarter final I think he’s worth a go this weekend.
The next quarter is headed up from a seedings point of view by Alan McManus and Tom Ford and I can’t be taking either of those. Mark Selby is the big name in this section but I’m happy to take someone else at a bigger price.
That player is Ryan Day. Importantly the Welshman wouldn’t play Selby until the quarter final so that is helpful. We know Day is in good touch having seen him beat Ding Junhui in China last week and these events should suit his aggressive game. With a kind draw he’s worth a go in the second quarter.
More of the bigger names tend to be situated in the bottom quarter but even then the seeds in the third quarter are Tian Pengfei and Ben Woollaston. Again they look there for the taking. World champion Stuart Bingham and Mark Allen are both in the top portion of this section as is Joe Perry so there could be an opportunity for someone in the other portion of the quarter.
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh has been in great form in recent times. He won the Six Red World Championship and then made the semi-final against the odds in China last week where he dispatched some pretty decent players not least Mark Allen and Mark Williams. If he keeps playing to that level he could do some damage this weekend.
Finally I’m going to take a chance with Michael White in the bottom quarter. Mark Williams and John Higgins are in this section of the draw but wouldn’t meet White until the quarter final. Shaun Murphy could be a potential last 16 opponent but I’m prepared to take him on with White.
White hasn’t shown anything like his best form this season yet but you would think with the UK Championship and the Masters fast approaching he’ll be pounding the practice table and his results should turn. To be fair he’s only a couple of wins away from top nick anyway and I’ll pay to see how close he gets this weekend.
Back J.Robertson to win Bulgarian Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 126.00 with William Hill (1/4 1-4)
Back R.Day to win Bulgarian Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with William Hill (1/4 1-4)
Back T.Un-Nooh to win Bulgarian Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 101.00 with Boylesports (1/4 1-4)
Back M.White to win Bulgarian Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with William Hill (1/4 1-4)
Blog snooker YTD: +92.44pts
